Comfortable
by PunnyAlien
Summary: Lance was comfortable with himself... most of the time. But the days where he felt like jumping into an abyss were made more tolerant by his space family, which includes a certain irritated mullet-head.


Lance was comfortable with himself, to say the least. He liked to laugh and flirt with pretty aliens when the opportunity arose. There wasn't a day where he didn't think about the last time he'd pranked another paladin (or Coran) and given himself a case of uncontrollable giggles. He wasn't perfect, of course he knew that, but the days where he felt like jumping into the abyss passed by fairly quickly when Pidge muttered a great idea for a joke into his ear, or when Allura spent the afternoon asking about the ocean, or when Keith would bet that day's chores on whoever could get to the pool fastest.

Those days didn't just happen out of nowhere. On days much like today, Lance questioned himself a _lot._

 _I'm still in the closet, but will everyone hate me if I say something?_

 _Am I expendable? I'm not really skilled in anything specific..._

 _Am I too annoying? Oh God, what if I talk too much in front of_ Keith?

 _On that note, I wonder if Keith would go on a date with me?_

 _"_ Lance-"

He nearly tumbled out of bed with a small scream. "Geez, Hunk! You scared me!"

"Well, I've been calling you for the past five minutes." The yellow paladin smiled and sat down. "Is everything okay?"

"The usual, my dude. Why do you ask?"

"I mean, it's just that everyone's been so high-strung lately. It's contagious."

"You're right on that. How are you holding up, buddy?"

Hunk sighed and shrugged. "I'm tired, scared. You know, nothing new."

"Right," Lance laughed and patted his back. "You wanna go do some stress baking? I'm getting the munchies."

"Not a bad idea. But actually, I came in here to ask how you were doing with Keith."

Lance felt the heat rise to his face. "Nothing happened, if that's what you mean."

Hunk hummed mischievously. "I don't know, Lance... you two spent an awful lot of time in the bathroom earlier-"

"Seriously, I didn't tell him! If anything, we got into a... fight."

"Oh? What was it about?" Hunk reached out to touch his shoulder, but Lance recoiled and shifted uncomfortably.

"Keith was just talking about Shiro being cool and all that, and I guess I got a little jealous, so I _tried_ to subtly mention my crush on him by flirting a little."

"And?"

"He took it the wrong way," Lance said with a frustrated groan. "I guess he thought I was talking about someone else or something, because then he started calling me these names, and it was annoying so I punched him and left."

" _Lance,"_ Hunk sighed in exasperation. "You know, I'm sure he was just annoyed about something else. Don't let it stay on your mind for so long, okay?" He gently squeezed his hand and smiled. "But you better apologize for hitting him."

Staring at their hands, Lance slowly inched closer. "I will, eventually. But he's pretty honest. What if he really thought all those things about me?"

"We've all been on this ship long enough for everyone to know you're not that shallow. If he really meant it, we'd have to kick him into space."

Lance laughed. "But to put my mind at ease, will you do me an eensy teensy little favor, please?"

"Uh..."

"Can you ask him, please? Pretty please?"

"Wait-"

"Pretty please with space goo on top?"

"Why don't you just ask him yourself?"

Lance scrambled to his feel and gaped at him. " _Me?_ Dude, that's suicide. Something is going to happen if I ask him."

Hunk raised an eyebrow. " _Something_ as in..."

"You know what I meant! Please, Hunk... if I do it, I'll screw something up."

"Fine," Hunk said in expasperation, "but you're going to stand at the door, deal?"

Lance jumped excitedly. "Deal! Let's get this over with."

Hunk sighed as he made his way out the door and towards the training room. There was no way Keith was in his bedroom at this time of the day. He was always training, or using the pool. However, the training room was strangely empty. Hunk looked carefully and called his name, but in the end, Keith was nowhere to be found.

"Sorry, Lance. Let's try the pool..." Hunk's voice faltered as he heard two voices in the hall.

"Don't change the topic, Lance," Keith was saying. "Maybe you should try taking some of the burden instead of flirting around."

"Hey, if you're mad about something, don't take it out on me just because it's convenient to complain. You're infecting me with your negative germs."

 _Oh, no._ Hunk internally screamed as he heard their voices raise to an uncomfortable level.

"Like _you_ took it out on me? Everyone else is tired and worried, and you're not taking anything seriously! _"_

"I _said_ I was sorry! Look, just forget that comment that I made earlier. If you had just _listened_ a little better, maybe we'd be talking about something else right now."

"Like how immature you are? Just leave me alone, Lance. I don't want to deal with you right now."

"But if you'd just tell what's on your mind-"

"You wouldn't listen."

Hunk leaned over the corner just enough to see Lance's face, and his heart broke. He wasn't crying, but he hit his lip in anger, hanging his head the way he always did when he was about to throw a tantrum. Quietly, he mumbled, "I _hate_ you, Keith," and stormed off.

Keith watched him leave before sighing and leaning against the wall.

"Why did you do that?" Hunk asked.

"Gah!" The red paladin jumped in surprise before quickly composing himself. "Do what?" he asked shakily.

"Yell at Lance. He was trying to cheer you up and you hurt his feelings."

"I'm sorry," Keith mumbled, looking away. "I didn't _mean_ to say any of that."

"I know you're impulsive, but you can't just hit people where it hurts."

"It's just... It's like nothing affects him and it irritates me."

Hunk grasped his shoulder. "You and I both know that's not true. Lance is just good at hiding it."

Keith shuffled his feet. "I should go apologize."

"If you don't want to get punched, it's better to take a few minutes while I go talk to him. You can apologize when he comes out." Hunk gestured towards the bruise on his cheek.

Keith nodded slowly. "Good idea. Tell him I'll see him in a bit, then."

Hunk watched him head back to his own room as he silently prayed Lance would still be up for stress baking.

 _"_ Lance?" he called softly, closing the door behind him.

"I hate him, Hunk. I hate Keith," a muffled voice said from under the covers. "I don't know _why_ I liked him in the first place."

Hunk sat next to him and tentatively placed a hand on his back. "I talked to him already. He wants to apologize to you."

"I don't want to hear it."

"Don't be stubborn."

Lance sat up and gripped his pillow tightly. "I'm _not._ Do you understand how it feels to have someone you really care about say something like that? It's bad enough that I think about it myself!"

"People who are mad say things they don't mean, you know. He was just overwhelmed." Hunk was trying to calm him down, but Keith seemed to have hit a nerve that no one else had ever been able to reach.

"Hunk, _no._ People say things they've been wanting to say."

"Not all the time. Just blow it off, Lance. You shouldn't-"

"I shouldn't worry? What, am I the guy who's not allowed to care about anything? That's what Keith thinks!"

"Lance, seriously. Keith is just trying to mess you up because you deal with stress better than him."

The blue paladin glared at his pillow. "Well, it's working."

"Do... you want to _nicely_ talk it out with him?"

"No."

" _Lance."_

"Okay, fine! But if he makes another crack like that, I _swear_ I'm going to punch him again."

"Don't do that. Just go look for Keith, okay? I'm going to bake some cookies if you want to join me later," Hunk said with a hopeful grin.

Lance offered a small smile. "Make me one with those weird blue things you put in last time."

"Will do."

The lanky teenager slowly stepped out into the hall and trudged to Keith's bedroom, trying to think of how to phrase his words. He knocked on the door. "Keith?" he called cautiously.

The door flew open. Keith stood there awkwardly, cradling a pillow to his chest. "Hi, uh... do you want to talk inside?"

Sitting on the bed, Lance nervously tapped his foot on the floor as he tried to say something. "I'm sorry I got mad," he finally grumbled, "and punched you in the face."

"No, I'm really sorry I said all that. I didn't mean anything of it, and I was just overreacting and..." Keith's words faded off.

Lance said quietly, "That kind of thing... it bothered me so much because it's really personal."

Keith sat next to him with a pang of guilt. His serious tone of voice didn't suit him at all. "Do you mind telling me about it?"

"Only if you keep it to yourself, mullet-head." There it was, the only time Keith was ever delighted to see Lance's smirk. Well, that was an overstatement. Keith loved it anyway.

"Of course."

Lance took a deep breath. "Well, every once in a while, I get down. And for the most paranoid things, like... I'm not... special in any way, and that makes me feel pretty awful when I'm surrounded by all these amazing people who can contribute something they love to help the universe."

Keith laid a hand on his knee. "That's not true, Lance."

"Prove it."

"Well..."

"That's what I thought. Anyway, one of my mottos is _fake it 'til you make it,_ which I follow as a rule of thumb. I know I'm cocky and annoying, but put up with it until I find my confidence."

"Where do you think you left it?"

A long period of silence followed before Lance shook his head. "Home."

 _That's right... I totally forgot he gets homesick easily,_ Keith remembered. "Lance?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you just the way you are. Everyone does, because you _do_ have a thing."

"And what's that?"

"You're our glue. Who also happens to double as a sharpshooter."

Lance laughed, his eyes lighting up. "Did Pidge tell you that?"

"I just assumed everyone knew. No one's going to give you the satisfaction of calling you that, though."

" _What?_ Aw, man."

"Don't tell anyone, but I'll call you that behind closed doors," Keith said with an awkward grin, looking away shyly.

Lance's smile faltered. "Hey... can I tell you something else?"

"Yeah. Go for it."

"Y'see... I'm not actually completely _straight."_

Keith stared at him, stifling a smile. "So you're..?"

"Bi."

"It sounds like there's an 'and' here."

Lance nodded. "There is. I'm bi, and I've had a crush on you since we met at the Garrison."

The red paladin's face burned scarlet. "Really?" he asked quietly, his voice a little higher than he intended.

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it."

"Yeah... but you definitely hate me now. I said all of that to you earlier and-"

"I _do_ hate you," Lance interrupted. "But I also still really want to date you. Do you see the problem here?"

"I guess?"

"Just tell me no and we'll never speak of this again. Okay?" Lance was smiling, but Keith could see his hands gripping the sheets.

"Lance, I hate you too _._ "

"Whoa-"

Keith reached up and cradled Lance's face in his hands, "But of course I say yes, and I'm going to treat you better this time."

"Oh, man... I didn't mean to guilt trip or anything," Lance laughed awkwardly.

"You're not. I really like you, Lance."

Lance gave him a sly smirk. "You mean you _love_ me?"

"I never said that!"

"Yes, you _did._ Let me kiss you, _amor._ "

Keith trembled as Lance pulled him closer. He closed his eyes and leaned in until their lips met. The feeling of their lips moving with each other was almost electrifying. Even with as often as their noses bumped, their teeth knocked together, Keith felt his heart racing a million miles a second, relishing in the sweet taste of Lance's mouth. The blue paladin grazed his teeth against his bottom lip before pulling away breathlessly.

"That was... something," Keith said in between pants. "Do you want to...?"

"Do it again?" Lance asked cautiously.

"Yeah."

Keith leaned in, staring into his brown eyes. Lance gently kissed the bruise that was starting to form on his cheek before pushing him into the mattress. As Keith took a shivering breath, Lance took hold of his collar and kissed him again, a little harder than the first time, hesitantly running his tongue against his bottom lip. Keith parted his lips in invitation with a small groan, letting Lance's tongue slip inside and press against the roof of his mouth. He gasped as it ran across his own tongue, creating friction as it darted back out and lingered on his lip for a second before sliding in again with more force. Lance couldn't help but smile at a hum that resonated from Keith's chest into his mouth as his tongue pleasantly wrapped around his.

Lance sat up, chest heaving, wiping saliva off the corner of his mouth. Keith smiled up at him, ignoring his burning face and his comfortably sore lips, reaching out for another kiss. "Let me take care of you until we can get you home," he said softly in between Lance's warm and pliable lips.

"I don't know, I'm pretty hard to put up with, Keith." Lance winked. "But it looks like you have a lot of time to prepare to meet my parents, right?"

Keith laughed, his nose bumping against his. "Right."

For a moment, Lance was completely happy with himself. Sure, it took an argument and a few French kisses, but he was _positive_ that the days when he felt like ejecting himself into space were going to be far and few between from now on.

 **A/N: Credit to StrictlySecret for their Beta work. Thank you again!**


End file.
